Construction has started on what will be the largest new speculative industrial project in the Dallas area.

And it’s located in the booming Interstate 20 business corridor in southern Dallas County.

Atlanta-based developer Seefried Properties has teamed up with investor USAA Real Estate Co. to build the 1.13-million-square-foot warehouse in DeSoto.

USAA Real Estate, a subsidiary of the San Antonio-based insurance giant, will provide the investment capital and be the primary owner of the building when it is complete.

Jones Lang LaSalle is marketing the building in the Southfield Park development.

The 157-acre business park is south of I-20 on Old Hickory Trail.

The new industrial building should be ready for tenants by the third quarter, said Jones Lang LaSalle senior vice president Nathan Orbin.

Seefried and USAA began preparing the development site last fall.

“They have now decided with where we are in the market it makes sense to move forward and make a significant investment on a project on a speculative basis,” Orbin said.

The I-20 corridor has been one of the state’s fastest-growing distribution and warehousing districts during the last two years, with new industrial projects for major companies including BMW, Quaker Oats, Home Depot and L’Oreal Cosmetics.

Most of the large warehouses that have been started in the area have been leased to tenants. “A lot of the deals down there have been build-to-suit projects,” said Jones Lang LaSalle executive vice president Kurt Griffin.

But with demand growing for distribution space as the economy expands, developers are stepping out with speculative projects.

The new Seefried-USAA building follows two more large spec warehouse deals in that area — a 650,000-square-foot building Prologis built in Lancaster and a 800,000-square-foot distribution building Crow is building in Far South Dallas.

Seefried’s larger building is just the first of four it plans to build in its new business park off Hickory Trail.

“This is going to be one of the highest-quality and well-located industrial parks in North Texas,” said Seefried Properties senior vice president Jonathan Stites.

Along with Griffin and Orbin, Jones Lang LaSalle managing director Terry Darrow will be working to secure tenants for the project.

Developer Seefried has been in business since 1984 and has offices in Atlanta, Dallas, Phoenix and Illinois.

USAA Real Estate has about $12 billion in assets, including office, industrial, retail and hotel properties.